The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1887-04-21
Against Taxation to Build Another Rail-

iO6uS! Ii 81, tuaj Will prove OuaG
you are still speaking ironically,
and will show how treacherous
your memory has become, for / re-
minded you in my last communica-
ton that / did not oppose railroads
but taxation and county bonds.
Can you recall that? AS you think
| do not come up to the point of
discussion and to show that you
have forgotten the many incontro
vertible arguments that l have here
tofore placed before you and the
citizens of Giles county, l will re-
mind you: Our already burdensome
taxation produced by our enor-
nous bonded state debt, which was
produced or caused to great ex
tent by the state issuing railroad
bonds to assist in building roads,
has caused the state to lose heavi-
ly. Further, the great loses
sustained by many of the citizens
of Giles when we were taxed to as
sist in building the Nashville &
Decatur road. Railroad taxation
does not benefit nor burden all the
citizens in proportion to their taxa
ton, depressing some much more
than others. The railroads never
become profitable so long as the
citizens, county or state have much
interest in them. Voting tax on
the citizens and county bonds are
almost SYNONYMOUS in effect, except
the latter are lighter on US at first,
but in the end will cost more and
,he heaviest burden will be inheri-
ted by our offspring. Colonel,a it is
too tedious for me to show all this,
please get some of your unbiased
Pulaskians (if you have such and
l hope you have) to explain this to
the citizens of Giles. Is it right
for the non-tax paying and non-in-
terested citizens of Giles to vote
railroad tax on the helpless widows
| and orphans of Giles just because
the law allows the former a vote and
does not the latter. Are you
lawyer and have forgotten that the
law does not always .dos justice, al
| though no doubt it is intended to
to do so? 1.-THE above few facts of
the many that could be adduced
does not make man that is in ia
vor of more tax and more bonds
dwindle, he is hard case (proba-
bly, beyond redemption.) But some
things when placed under the rays
of hot sun, instead of dwindling,
enlarge and l expect Speaking
Ironically some lawyers about your
size would expand. We will leave
it to the unbiased citizens of Giles
| that read our communications who
has done the dwindling and the
lodging also. Some Of you Pnlas-
kians, if am correctly informed,
nave started a lodging machine,
| iguratively speaking, that a por-
tion of it reads about thus: Each
one of US will pay the amount OF
sum opposite our names to help to
lpay for surveying the anticipated
railroad provided, provided what
then?) Provided that it run through
| Giles? No, sir. Provided that il
is located to run through or ada
cent to Pulaski; if not we pay moth
Ing. 1t is quite probable that you
learned to leave gaps down several
years ago when the $40, 900 tax was
voted on the citizens Of Pulaski
| A bad trick once learned is hard tc
lget rid of so we citizens of Giles
will have to excuse you, but we can
not held seeing the partiality fol
Pulaski, so if there is no probabili-
| ty of the road running through OF
adjacent to Pulaski you would prob
ably take sides with me, and OPP
pose a railroad tax or railroad
bonds for it seems that you are moi
much interested In the welfare OF
the remainder of the county. i
that be the case how can you have
the conscience to ask us to tax our
selves or to issue county bonds to
Guild another road for Pulaski's
benefit? Colonel, l could write
much more, but as you appear tt
be getting tired of our discussion
and as l am no candidate for any
office nor do l ever expect to be
and my entire object has been to
Iget the good citizens of Giles tt
thinking before they acted and tt
take the advice of old DR.. Franklin
| whose motto was to be certain thai
you are right first and then act
and as | am very thankful to you
| for the kindness you have shown
me in publishing my communities
lions, I will retire from public criti
cisms and give way to some one
else that may wish to express theil
unbiased views on this or some othel
| su biect, and if none of them wish tt
| advocate some good cause sufficient
to fill up the space that was left by
Bret Harte's retiring, you can mott
fly him and let him complete hi:
novel. I remain yours,
| d. X. HIGDoN.
4 We have abandoned all hope o
bringing DR.. Higdon to the point
He persistently refuses to consider
the effect upon the prosperity O
Giles county of the construction O
a competing railroad. He hammers
away at the enormity of the bur
den and hardships entailed by tax
alton and he utterly fails and refu
ses to consider the benefits. Fol
| instance, let's consider only one
item: We pay $l.75 a bale to shiI
cotton to Nashville and we ship
about $4,000 bales. If we had s
competing line we would not pay
more than 81 at the very outside
There is a clear earning of $500
If we issue $250,00O in bonds at
per cent, the annual interest will
be $4,000. We see thus that The
saving on cotton nearl y pays thu
l.ax, rTbo A. N road now nov